Chapter Twenty-Two
Scully and Mulder arrived at the children's ward of the hospital. They discovered Scully's worried mother standing in the hall. Maggie had been keeping watch over little Emily until her parents could return from their honeymoon.
"How's Emily?" Scully asked as she hugged her mom.
"She had a fever when I went to check on her in the middle of the night. I had this dream. About - about Melissa," Maggie stated.
"Melissa?" Scully repeated.
A few months prior, a woman had called, leading Scully to Emily's location. The voice on the phone had sounded eerily like Melissa's. When Scully found Emily, she had looked so much like Melissa as a little girl that Scully at first thought that Emily may have been her late sister's child. Later it was discovered that Melissa had not given up a child for adoption; Emily was Scully's biological daughter.
"Yes, Dana. Melissa was calling out to me, saying that Emily needed help."
Scully and Mulder exchanged glances. "How's Emily doing now?" Mulder asked.
"The doctors are about to perform some tests. They have so many questions. They asked about that... that 'growth' on the back of her neck."
"It's okay, Mom," Scully soothed. "Mulder and I are here now. We'll stay with Emily. You go back to my apartment and get some rest."
Margaret Scully looked exhausted. She didn't want to leave her granddaughter, but she truly did need to sleep. "Okay, honey, but you call me. Call me the minute you find out anything."
"I promise I will," Scully said as she kissed her mother's cheek.
As soon as Maggie left for the nearest elevator, a doctor walked out of Emily's hospital room. "Are you Emily's parents?" he asked.
"Yes. I am Dana Scully and this is my husband Fox Mulder."
"I'm afraid your daughter is extremely ill. We'd like to do some preliminary tests, but we need..."
"What's wrong with her?" Scully questioned.
"Maybe an infection from that cyst on the back of her neck. We are going to perform a biopsy."
"No, don't!" Scully said urgently. She remembered what had happened the last time a doctor had made an incision around the mysterious growth. It had caused the doctor to collapse, overcome by toxic fumes.
"We need the medical records of your daughter's physician. Who's been treating her?"
"Dr. Calderon of San Diego," said Scully. "He was providing an experimental treatment for her anemia, but he refused to forward her records to the hospital where she had been admitted. Emily was quite sick and given strong antibiotics. She fought the infection and got better. I'm sure if you follow the same protocol..."
"We'll do all we can, but in the meantime, you need to find that doctor. It's imperative that we find any information we can about her past treatment."
"I'll go to San Diego, Scully, and I'll find him," Mulder promised. "Emily doesn't deserve any of this."
He spoke to Scully in low tones so the doctor would not hear. He caressed her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. "You can't leave, Mulder. Not until you've seen Emily."
He smiled. "Okay, let's go see her," he agreed.
"The nurse will be in shortly to take Emily down for an MRI," the doctor stated before leaving Mulder and Scully in the hall.
Quietly, Scully entered Emily's room, holding Mulder's hand. "Mommy... Daddy," Emily said weakly.
Scully rushed to her daughter's side. "I don't feel well," said the little girl.
"I know, sweetie," Scully said. "But the doctors are going to take good care of you, just like before, remember?"
"I don't want anymore tests," Emily said sadly.
"Hey, Em," Mulder said as he took Emily's tiny hand in his. "You're such a brave girl. Your mom and I are so proud of you."
"I'm proud of you, too, Daddy," Emily said sweetly. "Can I go home now... with you?"
"Not yet," Mulder said gently. "You have to stay at the hospital with your mommy and get better. In the meantime, I have to go for a little while, but I will be back."
"I love you, Daddy."
Mulder gave the girl's hand a soft squeeze. "I love you, too, Em. You take good care of your mommy while I'm gone."
"I will take good care of her... AND my baby brother."
Once again, Scully and Mulder's gazes met. Scully felt her stomach turn over as if the baby had somehow moved within her womb, but that couldn't be possible. She shouldn't be feeling movement yet at this early stage! But if the baby hadn't moved, what was it that she had felt?
"So you think the baby's a boy?" Mulder asked Emily with a grin.
"I know it, Daddy. He IS a boy. I'm having a baby brother."
"You never know, you could be having a sister."
Emily shook her head. "He SAID he's a boy."
"He said?" Scully asked as her worries and fears mounted.
"I can hear him talking sometimes... inside my head," Emily answered.
"Mulder..." Scully spoke, greatly unsettled by Emily's claim she could somehow communicate with her unborn sibling.
"Scully, she's creative and she has a big imagination. We'll worry about all this later. I have to go now."
Mulder kissed Emily softly on the cheek, then he took Scully in his arms, holding her against his heartbeat. "I promise I will have some answers when I get back."
"Stay safe," she said as their lips met in a tender kiss.
After Mulder left the room, Emily's small hand reached out from the hospital bed. She lay her tiny palm on Scully's slight baby bump. She let out a sweet little giggle. "My baby brother says not to worry, Mommy, 'cause everything will be alright."
Scully felt weak in the knees. She sunk into the nearest chair. Lovingly, she brushed strands of moist strawberry blond hair back from Emily's angelic face. There was no doubt that Emily had a fever when she caressed her daughter's face.
"Emily, what else did the baby say?"
"That's all he said... for now."
